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CROATIAN HOLOCAUST VICTIMS SEEK $3.5 BILLION IN COMPENSATION / "Arutz Sheva" (Israel National News) March 13, 2017

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Arutz Sheva (Israel National News)
AFP
March 13, 2017
 
Croatian Holocaust victims seek $3.5 billion in compensation
 
Victims of Croatia's pro-Nazi World War II regime and their relatives are seeking $3.5 billion in damages in a suit filed in the US.
 
Visitor walks past display at US Holocaust Memorial Museum (Reuters)
 
Victims of Croatia's pro-Nazi World War II regime and their relatives are seeking $3.5 billion in damages in a suit filed in the United States, local media and officials said Monday.
 
The group wants compensation from the Croatian government for property seized from ethnic Serbs, Roma and Jews, as well as for their suffering during the war, state-run HRT television reported.
 
The suit was filed in a Chicago court last May. Croatia's foreign ministry confirmed to AFP that it had received a "note from the US embassy in Zagreb regarding the suit" on February 27 and Zagreb was given a two-month deadline to respond.
 
Local legal experts said the case was unfounded as the Croatian government is not the legal heir to the wartime Independent State of Croatia (NDH) and cannot be held responsible for the damages inflicted by it.
 
The foreign ministry said in a statement that it "stresses that Croatia is not a successor" to the regime.
 
After World War II and the collapse of the pro-Nazi regime, Croatia became part of the communist Yugoslav federation. It declared its independence in 1991, amid the break-up of the rump Yugoslavia.
 
The WWII Nazi-allied Ustasha regime persecuted and killed hundreds of thousands of ethnic Serbs, Jews, Roma and anti-fascist Croatians.
 
The United States' special envoy for Holocaust issues, Nicholas Dean, visited Croatia last year, notably to discuss the issue of Jewish property confiscated by the Ustasha regime.
 
 
 
 
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Croatia rejects U.S. lawsuit over World War Two crimes / "Reuters" March 13, 2017

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The Croatian Flag


Reuters
Reporting by Igor Ilic, editing by Larry King
March 13, 2017

Croatia rejects U.S. lawsuit over World War Two crimes

Croatia rejected on Monday the allegations made in a lawsuit filed in the United States that demands compensation to people held in concentration camps on Croatian territory during World War Two.

Croatia's foreign ministry confirmed that the U.S. embassy had notified it last month of the lawsuit, which was filed in a Chicago court by several individuals in the United States. Croatia had 60 days to respond to the allegations from the lawsuit.

The Ustasha regime ruled Croatia as allies of Nazi Germany from 1941 until the end of the war in 1945. Several concentration camps operated on its territory, targeting Jews, Roma and Serbs. Estimates of the number of people killed vary widely but start in the tens of thousands.

"(Modern) Croatia is not a successor to the (World War Two)Independent State of Croatia, which is clearly stated in Croatia's constitution," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Local media reported that the lawsuit wanted Croatia to pay $3.5 billion in compensation for damages and sufferings of the regime's victims.

The most notorious concentration camp was Jasenovac in central Croatia, where more than 83,000 people were killed, including anti-fascist Croats. Many Croats fought on the side of the communist-led Partisan resistance movement.

Croatia, now a European Union member, declared independence from ex-Yugoslavia in 1991. It fought a four-year war against Serbs backed by Belgrade before taking full control of its territory.



http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-croatia-ww2-court-int-idUKKBN16K2A4


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Croatia Threatened with Lawsuit by WWII Victims / "Balkan Insight" March 20, 2017

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Balkan Insight
Sven Milekic
BIRN
Zagreb
March 20, 2017

Croatia Threatened with Lawsuit by WWII Victims

Croatia has been threatened with a lawsuit if it doesn’t support victims of the WWII fascist Ustasa movement in their claims for reparations - although one expert doubted Zagreb would back the case.

Ustasha guards stripping prisoners before they enter the Jasenovac concentration camp.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

US lawyer Jonathan Levy said on Monday that he will lay charges against Croatia if it fails to back claims against the Vatican Bank made by victims of the Croatian WWII fascist Ustasa movement.

Certain people in the Vatican allegedly sponsored the exiled Ustasa government after WWII and helped to transfer parts of its treasury – partly created from wealth taken from Serbs, Jews and Roma – to the Vatican Bank.

Levy took the ‘Ustasa treasury’ case to the US courts, but lost in 2010, with judges concluding that they had no jurisdiction over the matter.

He has now appealed to the Croatian government’s newly-formed Council for Dealing with Consequences of the Rule of Non-Democratic Regimes, asking it to support the Ustasa victims.

Levy claimed in his appeal that Croatia “has done nothing tangible to aid the Ustasa victims and their families in obtaining an accounting of the Ustasa treasury”, but has given former Ustasa soldiers state pensions for their war merits.

The director of the Nazi-hunting Simon Wiesenthal Centre, Efraim Zuroff warned Croatia in May 2015 that these pensions to former Ustasa troops were an insult to victims of Croatia’s wartime pro-German regime.

According to the Croatian pension insurance institute, in 2013 Zagreb paid out pensions to 13,000 former soldiers and policemen of the Ustasa-led Nazi-aligned puppet state Independent State of Croatia, NDH.

Levy said that if the new Council did not support the victims, he will appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, and inform the European Commission and the European Parliament.

“Should the Council which is the highest organ of the Croatian government with jurisdiction over the Ustasa legacy fail to act, legal action will be commenced under European legal regimes seeking compensation and/or an order compelling Croatia to cease its illegal discrimination against the victims of the Ustasa,” he wrote.

He claimed that by paying pensions to former NDH troops from 1993 onwards, the government “has been discriminating against victims of the Ustasa”, notably Serbs, Jews and Roma, as well as against anti-fascists.

Levy asked Croatia to stop “its illegal discrimination against Ustasa victims and their families and take positive actions to assist them in recovery and accounting of the Ustasa treasury”.

He said Zagreb should call for “a conference of the responsible parties including Germany, Italy, the Vatican and the United States and request an accounting of the Ustasa treasury from the Vatican”.

But Ante Nobilo, an experienced lawyer in international humanitarian law, told BIRN that he believed there was no great threat of a lawsuit against Croatia.

“But it’s also a fact that this puts Croatia in an unpleasant situation. In principle, Croatia would have to be interested in its WWII Ustasa victims – regardless of their religion and nationality – exercising their right to get back their assets, if it’s correct that they ended up in the Vatican Bank and if there is relevant evidence supporting the fact,” Nobilo said.

However, he emphasised that it “can’t be expected that Croatia will support such a claim” if it thinks there is not sufficient evidence to support the allegations.

Nobilo argued that although “this may be seen as a provocation, it’s a provocation Croatia asked for”, because of its lenient approach towards the legacy of the NDH, or by paying pensions to former NDH soldiers.

He also argued that there is no legal basis for paying these pensions, not only because “Croatia isn’t NDH’s successor, but also since Yugoslavia was occupied during WWII and occupation, according to international law, doesn’t change previous intra-state affairs”.

Levy also told BIRN last week that a separate 3.2 billion euro lawsuit against Croatia for property seized by its Nazi-allied WWII regime was ‘invalid’ because it was filed without the consent of the plaintiffs.

The Ustasa movement targeted Serbs, Jews and Roma, by killing them, sending them to Croatia-based and Nazi German camps, and by confiscating their property and belongings.



http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/new-wwii-lawsuit-threat-against-croatia-far-fetched--03-20-2017


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CROATIA TO HELP RETURN USTASHA LOOT OR FACE LEGAL ACTION / Dr. Jonathan Levy / March 20, 2017

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Attorneys & Solicitors
1629 K Street NW Suite 300
Washington DC 20006 USA
Tel/Fax 1-202-318-2406
www.brimstoneandcompany.com

March 20, 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
CROATIA TO HELP RETURN USTASHA LOOT
OR FACE LEGAL ACTION
 
Washington:  Since 1998, this office has represented the largest group of Ustasha victims and their families and organizations seeking an accounting and restitution of the Ustasha Treasury.

A $3.5 billion-dollar reparations case served recently on the Foreign Ministry of Croatia by the US State Department was discovered by this office to be invalid and a fraud.  Furthermore, under international law Croatia has not yet been considered the successor state to the Nazi puppet Independent State of Croatia.

The Croatian government however has been discriminating against victims of the Ustasha by paying pensions to Ustasha veterans since 1993.  The recipients almost certainly include Ustasha who were members of units that participated in genocide and looting of Serbs, Jews, Roma, and the execution of anti-fascist Croatians, Slovenes, and Bosnians.

The newly created Croatian government Council for Dealing with Consequences of the Rule of Non-Democratic Regimes is tasked with determining the legacy of the Ustasha.  This office has tendered its Petition to the Council seeking Croatia’s immediate assistance in obtaining an accounting of the Ustasha Treasury. Should the Council which is the highest organ of the Croatian government with jurisdiction over the Ustasha legacy fail to act, legal action will be commenced under European legal regimes seeking compensation and/or an order compelling Croatia to cease its illegal discrimination against the victims of the Ustasha.

For more information see thePetition to the Council [Before the Republic of Croatia, Council for Dealing with Consequences of the Rule of Non-Democratic Regimes - Petition of Dr. Jonathan Levy on behalf of the Victims of the Ustasha and their Families]served by email on Council Member Professor Tihomir Cipek and the Croatian Foreign Ministry.

Contact:
JonathanLevy
Tel: 202-318-2406
info@brimstoneandcompany.com





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VIDEO / Обиљежено 75 година од усташког покоља више од 6.000 Срба у Старом Броду / "PTPC" March 22, 2017

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PTPC
March 22, 2017

Обиљежено 75 година од усташког покоља више од 6.000 Срба у Старом Броду (ФОТО/ВИДЕО)

Срби из сарајевско-романијске и горњо-дринске регије још нису залијечили ни ране из Другог свјетског рата.

Oбиљежено 75 година од усташког покоља више од 6.000 Срба у Старом Броду / Foto: SRNA
 
У Старом Броду на Дрини код Вишеграда служен је помен за више од 6000 српских цивила са тог подручја, брутално убијених и вишедневном покољу који су починиле усташке, муслиманске и њемачке формације прије 75 година.

Предсједник Српске Милорад Додик рекао је да је комунистички режим систематски скривао истину о једном од највећих страдања српског народа, а тек стварањем Републике Српске проговорило се о овом злочину и почело обиљежавати страдање Срба на Дрини.

Плаховита Дрина те 42-ге године прошлог вијека била је гробница за најмање 6.000 Срба. Ријетки су успјели да је препливају или чамцима да се домогну друге обале и спаса у Србији. Усташка црна легија и муслиманска милиција све је стављала под нож. Ристо Ћеранић и данас се сјећа покоља у којем му је убијено 11 сродника.

"То је био страшан покољ. Усташа узме дјевојку и да извините, просјече је и онда руку туда протури да се пати, узме дијете баци га и дочека на бајонет, па јели то добро", присјећа се злодјела Ћеранић који је био свједок покоља у Старом Броду и Милошевићима.


Злочин геноцида над Србима у Старом Броду и Милошевићима прећутан је у бившој Југославији због лажног братства и јединства.

Ни данас у уџбеницима не можете наћи ни слова о погрому у којем су затрте цијеле породице и готово истријебљен српски народ од Сарајева до Дрине.

“Ја сам први у бившој Југослабвији упознао јавност са овим злочином са књигом “Тече крвава Дрина” и онда сам добио пријетње, тражене су забране”, говори Момир Крсмановић аутор романа „Тече крвава Дрина“, у којем је описао злочине над Србима у Подрињу.

VIDEO: "Obilježeno 75 godina od ustaškog pokolja više od 6.000 Srba u Starom Brodu"
Posted on You Tube by "RTRS vijesti"
Published on March 22, 2017
"Srbi iz sarajevsko-romanijske i gornjo-drinske regije još nisu zaliječili ni rane iz Drugog svjetskog rata."



https://youtu.be/SBlfR3lNlis

Посљедице прећуткивања су страшне, старије генерације Срба осим оних чији су преци страдали не знају ништа о стратишту у Старом Броду. Млади из Рогатице, Вишеграда, Пала и других општина с пажњом су слушали историјски час.

Мало смо нешто знали али треба да долазимо и да чујемо и драго мије да смо у великом броју дошли”, говоре они који су данас присуствовали парастосу.

Садашња генерација Срба не смије и неће прећуткивти овај и друге злочине над српским народом, почињене током Другог свјетског и посљедњег рата, поручио је предсједник Српске. Нагласио је да се не треба бојати рећи истину да су усташе, муслимани и Нијемци брутално побили 6.000 Срба.

“Када сам 2006. први пут дошао овдје схватио сам размјере тог злочина о којем нигдје ни слова није било, а онда нама Србима хоће да припишу да смо геноцдни”, каже предсједник Републике Српске Милорад Додик.

Историчари кажу да је погром Срба на Дрини посљедица пажљиво планиране војне операције „Трио“. Циљ њемачких, италијанских и усташких снага био је разбијање устаничких снага и излазак НДХ на Дрину.

Стари БРод је мјесто помена на 6.000 страдалника али и опомене да се никада више не понови геноцид над Србима.

Захваљујући ужичком машиновођи Војину Никитовићу који је отео воз, спасено је бар 500 српске нејачи.


Извор: РТРС/СРНА

http://www.rtrs.tv/vijesti/vijest.php?id=246861


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The Chetnik Freedom Fighters as Immigrants in New Lands / By Andy Evans March 2017

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Serbian Chetnik immigrants in the UK in 1948. Photo courtesy of Andy Evans
 
 The Chetnik Freedom Fighters
as Immigrants in New Lands...
 
"What a difference time makes. Pictured are immigrants to the UK in 1948. These brave men were the first ones to stand up and fight against fascist rule dominating Europe in 1941. They had lost everything but decided to stay and fight for their homeland and democracy against overwhelming odds. For three years the Western Powers hailed the Serbian Chetniks as heroes until the winds of power altered direction and it was evident Communist Russia would be the liberator of Yugoslavia. History was sadly rewritten and the West turned their backs on their Chetnik allies, leaving them to be slaughtered and wrongly labelled fascist collaborators. Despite the great betrayal, these brave men and women came to the UK as displaced people. They were given a time limit to learn our language, forced into working in the mines, and were subject to regular visits by Police officers. Any deviation would result in them being sent back to Yugoslavia where they would face execution by the newly installed communist regime. These 'Guerilla' fighters obeyed the rules of the land, worked hard, and integrated with the local communities to make our country a better place to live. What a difference time makes..."
 
 
 
Andy Evans
U.K. March 2017


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Sin vojvode Mišića se žrtvovao zbog Draže / "Novosti" March 19, 2017

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Novosti
Ivan MILADINOVIĆ
19. mart 2017.

SUSRET SA ISTORIJOM
Sin vojvode Mišića se žrtvovao zbog Draže

Kako su Nemci streljali četničkog majora Aleksandra Mišića, u decembru 1941. Ispred kuće u Struganiku, u kojoj je bio domaćin generalu, pred Nemcima rekao: "Ja sam Draža."

Major Aleksandar Mišić
 
ČETNIČKI pokret Draže Mihailovića ili Jugoslovenska vojska u otadžbini, kako je zvanično nazivan, bio je i ostao jedan od najkontroverznijih pojava u Drugom svetskom ratu, ne samo srpske, odnosno jugoslovenske, već i evropske istorije. Celokupna sudbina ovih vojnih formacija donekle podseća na sve ono što smo kao nacionalni kolektivitet preživeli, a možda još preživljavamo u ovom sumornom modernom dobu koje nam ni najmanje nije naklonjeno.
 
Gotovo pola veka, iz ideoloških i sebičnih razloga ratnog pobednika, koji je pisao svoju istoriju, istina o četnicima Draže Mihailovića je bila tabu tema Titove Jugoslavije. Pa i danas, bez obzira na to što su objavljeni tomovi knjiga, obelodanjeni dokumenti koja bacaju sasvim drugu sliku na ovaj period istorije, pa čak snimljena i serija na nacionalnoj televiziji ("Ravna gora", 2013), svako čeprkanje po ovoj "misteriji" kao da povređuje osećanja bezgrešnosti onih koji i dalje misle da je postojanija istina koja se propisuje, a ne koja se istražuje i utvrđuje? A takvih je danas mnogo i u stručnim (istorijskim), i u političkim, kao i u gotovo svim krugovima javnih delatnika.
 
Radoš Bajić, idejni tvorac pomenute TV serije, u jednom trenutku nam predočava susret pukovnika Draže Mihailovića i majora Aleksandra Mišića, u noći između 10. i 11. maja 1941. u kući vojvode Živojina Mišića u selu Struganik. Njih dvojica se dogovaraju da ne priznaju kapitulaciju Jugoslavije. Draža je rekao: "Aleksandre, ti i ja ćemo podići treći ustanak. Učinićemo sve da narodu olakšamo ovo robovanje i da se mi, stari solunci, ne obrukamo. Borićemo se do kraja."
 
KAD je Srbiju, zatim, zahvatio pravi požar ustanka, i kad su, zajedno sa partizanima, ili pak sami četnici Draže Mihailovića stali napadati nemačke vojne garnizone, zabrinutost nemačkih okupacionih vlasti je porasla. Nemački štab procenjuje Mihailovićeve odrede kao opasnijeg protivnika od partizana jer su u tim odredima komandni kadar činili oficiri koji su imali šansu da okupe većinu srpskog naroda.
 
Nekoliko dana posle pada partizanske tvrđave u Užicu, Nemci su krenuli na Ravnu goru u pet kolona. Nisu naišli na značajniji oružani otpor. Pojedina dokumenta kazuju da su neki Nedićevi oficiri prethodno dojavili Mihailoviću da se sprema ofanziva na taj deo Srbije, i Draža naređuje da se sve jedinice koje su obezbeđivale taj prostor povuku i rasprše na razne strane.
 
Nemačka obaveštajna služba očigledno je raspolagala preciznim podacima da pukovnik Mihailović najčešće boravi u Struganiku. Njihova motorizovana formacija zaustavila se tačno pred rodnom kućom vojvode Mišića. I nisu pogrešili: u kući je bio Draža sa majorem Zaharijem Ostojićem, koji je stigao iz Kaira kao specijalni izaslanik kraljevske vlade. Minuti su odlučivali da li će "prvi gerilac Evrope" biti zarobljen. U poslednjem trenutku uspeli su da umaknu u obližnju šumu.
 
Šta je prethodilo pukovnikovom izvlačenju iz kuće na sigurno? Njegov domaćin major Aleksandar Mišić izašao je pred Nemce i rekao:
 
- Ja sam Draža Mihailović!
 
Vreme koje je neprijatelj utrošio okupljajući se oko Mišića bilo je dovoljno da im četnički lider umakne.
 
Na kraju, ofanziva na Ravnu goru nije bila baš bezuspešna. U izveštaju nemačke 342. divizije piše se da je u ovoj akciji 475 četnika zarobljeno, a ubijeno 11 vojnika i jedan oficir. Domogli su se dvojice majora, Aleksandra Mišića i Ivana Fregla, načelnika štaba Kolubarskog vojno-četničkog odreda, i još petorice oficira.
 
MIŠIĆ i Fregl bili su im posebno zanimljivi. Od njih su hteli da saznaju u kom je pravcu pobegao Draža Mihailović, kakve su njegove veze sa Britancima. Pošto od ove dvojice majora nisu ništa saznali, oni su izvedeni pred nemački vojni sud koji ih je osudio na smrt. Presuda je odmah izvršena...
 
O majoru Aleksandru Mišiću tokom rata, ali u poratnim godinama, biće ispredane raznorazne legende, naročito o njegovoj poslednjoj noći pred streljanje.
 
Draža Mihailović / Foto-arhiv "Borbe"
 
Ljotićevac Boža Ćatić iz Valjeva ispričao je emigrantskom publicisti Borivoju Karapadžiću da je Mišić odbio svaku saradnju sa Nemcima, da im je psovao i oca i majku i da im je rekao da mrzi i sopstvenu majku, zato što je Nemica.

Čuveni novinar "Politike" Bogoslav Boca Marjanović pisao je da su Nemci pred streljanje pitali Mišića i Fregla za poslednju želju. Mišić je zatražio da mu vežu oči i da mu se ne puca u glavu. Fregl je pak rekao: "Poslednja želja mi je da neprijateljima svoga naroda, varvarima Nemcima, sam komandujem paljbom svoga streljanja i da nam se dozvoli da u smrt idemo - rašniranih cipela."

Marjanović je u "Politici" objavio da su Nemci ispunili želju na smrt osuđenih, a zatim se, kaže autor teksta, "zbio događaj dostojan jednog Eshila, prava antička tragedija. Kad je Fregl zaustio da uzvikne `Pali`, Mišić je brže-bolje skinuo cokule i zavitlao ih prema Nemcima."

NAJAUTENTIČNIJE svedočenje, po svemu sudeći, ostavio je poznati istoričar Vasa Kazimirović, koji se, kao zarobljeni partizan, zatekao u valjevskom zatvoru:

"Noć uoči streljanja, Mišić i Fregl proveli su u takozvanom policijskom zatvoru u Valjevu, u posebnim ćelijama u koje su specijalno za njih unesene vojničke postelje i gvozdene peći... Bilo im je doneseno i pravo na jela i pića. Ali dok major Fregl nije ni od čega hteo da išta okusi, major Mišić se obilato služio i jelom i pićem. Negde oko ponoći, zahvaćen pićem, počeo je da peva nemačke pesme... Nemački podoficir, koji je bio određen da sedi uz njega, pevušio je s njim zajedno, a kad je izbila ponoć - ustao je da se oprosti, budući da mu je dolazila smena. Zauzeo je stav 'mirno' taj nemački podoficir, 'capnuo' petom o petu, pozdravio Mišića po vojnički i izdeklamovao: 'Gospodine majore, želim vam junačku smrt!'... Do u samo svanuće, Mišić je ostao budan i stalno ponavljao da gubi glavu samo zato što nije hteo da služi Nemcima i da ratuje protiv srpske braće u partizanskim jedinicama. Ujutru, tek što se razdanilo, Mišić i Fregl izvedeni su iz svojih ćelija na dvorište i tu fotografisani. Nekoliko puta sami, a nekoliko puta sa nemačkim oficirima koji su došli po njih. Prilikom fotografisanja nemačkih oficira sa Mišićem i Freglom, upravnik zatvora, folksdojčer Bauman (kamenorezac u Beogradu do rata 1941) hteo je i sam da se slika, pa je stao upravo uz Mišića. Ali ovaj ga je odgurnuo rukom, rekavši na nemačkom jeziku: 'Ti nisi dostojan da se slikaš sa jednim srpskim oficirom!'

HEROJ BALKANSKIH RATOVA

ALEKSANDAR Mišić, heroj balkanskih ratova i Prvog svetskog rata, rođen u Beogradu 1891. godine, kao peto od šestoro dece Živojina i Lujze Mišić (devojačko Krikner). Majka mu je bila Nemica, starinom iz Francuske (deda je bio Francuz). Čim je napunio 18 godina, Aleksandar napušta porodični dom bez znanja roditelja i odlazi u Rusiju. Predstavio se kod strica cara Nikolaja Nikolajevića, čija je žena bila crnogorska princeza, i izrazio želju da stupi u Vojnu akademiju. Dobija preporuke i stupa u akademiju u Vilnu. Međutim, 1912. se razboleo i posle preporuke lekara da mu tokom daljeg lečenja treba toplija klima odlučuje da se vrati u Srbiju koja se tada spremala za rat protiv Osmanskog carstva.

Aleksandar je bez očevog odobrenja stupio kao oficir u srpsku vojsku. Učestvovao je u mnogobrojnim bitkama, balkanskim ratovima, kao i u Prvom svetskom ratu. Od 1928. do 1930. bio je vršilac dužnosti upravnika Vranjske banje. Za vreme Drugog svetskog rata bio je komandant Ribničkog četničkog odreda u četničkim odredima Jugoslovenske vojske, obaveštajac i jedan od glavnih ustaničkih vođa uz pukovnika Dragoljuba Mihailovića tokom ustanka 1941.

I BRAĆA BILI VOJNICI

ALEKSANDROV stariji brat Radovan takođe je imao briljantnu vojnu karijeru i kao pukovnik najviši čin posle oca u celoj porodici. Posle okupacije zemlje i zarobljavanja Nemci ga šalju u koncentracioni logor u Nirnbergu. Promenio je sedam logora. Nažalost, umro je tri dana pre polaska transporta za Beograd, 26. jula 1945. Sahranjen je u Nirnbergu, a porodica je ostatke prenela u Beograd tek 1968. godine i sahranila ih u porodičnoj grobnici.

Vojvoda Mišić i njegovi sinovi Radovan i Aleksandar / Foto-arhiv "Borbe"
 
Mlađi, Vojislav posle školovanja na vojnoj akademiji u Rusiji odlazi u London gde završava studije hortikulture i vraća se u Srbiju. Po izbijanju rata 1941. opredelio se za partizane. Bio je zatočen u i zloglasnom logoru Banjica, odakle ga je oslobodila majka svojim autoritetom. Ipak, ponovo se priključuje partizanima i učestvuje na Sremskom frontu. Po završetku rata bio je poverenik za poljoprivredu i zajedno sa Srđanom Mrkušićem, legendarnim golmanom Crvene zvezde, radio na uređenju parkovskih površina u Beogradu. Sve do 1948. godine i rezolucije Informbiroa. Završava na Golom otoku...

Majka Lujza umrla je 7. decembra 1956. Voja ju je znatno nadživeo, upokojio se 29. jula 1974. godine.


http://www.novosti.rs/vesti/naslovna/reportaze/aktuelno.293.html:655669-Sin-vojvode-Misica-se-zrtvovao-zbog-Draze


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If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra, please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com

*****
 

ЧЕТНИЧКА ОРГАНИЗАЦИЈА У ЗАГРЕБУ И НА ТЕРИТОРИЈУ ДАНАШЊЕ ХРВАТСКЕ / Jovan Njegovic Drndak

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ЧЕТНИЧКА ОРГАНИЗАЦИЈА У ЗАГРЕБУ  И НА ТЕРИТОРИЈУ ДАНАШЊЕ ХРВАТСКЕ

Четничка удружења у мирнодопским условима била су полувојне организације. Прва удружења четника у Загребу основана су  1927. Чланови су полагали  заклетву, носили униформе са шубарама и на њима кокарде, на прсима четничку значку,  били су и наоружани.
 
Ја (име и презиме) на овом светом четничком знамењу (кама и револвер), заклињем се свемогућим Богом, да ћу врховном заповеднику све војне силе, нашем Краљу Југославије Петру II свагде и у свим приликама бити веран, свом душом одан и послушан, да ћу се за Краља и Отаџбину јуначки борити, да четничку и војничку заставу нигде и никад нећу изневерити и да ћу заповести свих претпостављених ми старешина слушати и верно их извршавати. Тако ми Бог помогао! Ако се четничке дужности огрешим, нека ме Бог казни, а кама и револвер ту казну изврше. Амин
 
Прво Четничко удружење основано је 1921. у Београду. У садашњој Хрватској Четничка удружења имају почетак у тридесетим годинама. Била су  део јединственог Југословенског покрета у Краљевини Југославији и према организационом уређењу и према програмским циљевима. До почетка 1935. на подручју Савске бановине  било је 114 четничких удружења.
 
Тај процес је настављен  и 1936.  су само до маја те године на истом подручју била основана још 63 четничка пододбора с више од две хиљаде чланова.
 
Основнa програмa четничких удружења тридесетих година било је залагање за идеју југословенског национализма и заштите уставноправног уређења Краљевине Југославије са династијом  Карађорђевић - "За краља и отаџбину".
 
Четничка удружења окупљала су личности  високих моралних квалитета из различитих друштвених слојева. У чланству четничких удружења били су Срби, али и Хрвати, и то из редова "југословенских националиста", посебно  Хрвати с подручја Далмације и  јадранских острва. Посебно је значајно да су ови делови Хрватске ослобођени од италијанске окупације након Првог светског рата управо захваљујући напорима српске армије и  династије Карађорђевић као и дипломатским напорима и личним ангажовањем Михајла Пупина.
 
Када је основана Бановина Хрватска, крајем августа 1939. године одржавају се многи јавни зборови и протести  у местима где живе срби , у лето и јесен 1940. у Книну, Кистањама, Бенковцу и више места у околини,  основана је  "Комисија спаса Срба северне Далмације", која прикупља потписе становника и упућује делегације и петиције намесницима и Народној скупштини у Београду са захтевима да се Бенковачки и Кнински котар прикључе Врбаској бановини, односно "Српским земљама". У другој половини 1940. у Книну је покренут рад четничког "Петог комитског одреда", на челу са војводом Владом Новаковићем, који је годину дана касније постао командантом Буковачког четничког одреда. Иако је службено 11. новембра 1940. забрањен рад овог одреда, он као полицијска полувојничка организација уз помоћ соколских старешина наставља рад и настоји успоставити одреде у Стрмици, Косову, Кистањама, Тепљуху и Ђеврскама. Део његових чланова, као и чланови других југословенских и српских организација и друштава на томе подручју постаће искра четничког покрета у Далмацији који ће 1941. године подићи устанак против усташа.
 
Усташе су већину истакнутијих Срба сматрали  четницима и правили спискове за хапшење на основу такозваних четничких листа, упућивали у новоосноване логоре смрти попут Данице код Копривнице, Керестинца, Јадовна крај Госпића, Слане и Матејне на острву Пагу, Бјеловара, Цапрага код Сисака, Пожеге, Јасеноваца, Старе Градишке ... Масовни покољи према српском народу са најчешшим поистовјећивањем срба као четника па макар то била и мала дјеца су се догађали и  на свим подручјима где су срби живели  Лици, Кордуну, Банији,Славонији и  северној  Далмацији.


Јован Његовић Дрндак
March 2017


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If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra, please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com

*****

Nazi Germany invades Yugoslavia on April 6, 1941 / To those who resisted, Glory unto you. Memory Eternal. / By Momchilo Dobrich April 6, 2017

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Chetnik Flag / "For King and Homeland - Freedom or Death"


"Seventy-six years ago today, Nazi Germany with her Axis allies invaded our Kingdom of Yugoslavia. This unleashed four years of civil war and cruel acts of barbarism, by fascists and communists; all to forward their own ideology. To those who resisted, glory unto you. Memory Eternal."

Momchilo Dobrich
Canada
April 6, 2017


Nazi Flag
 
Flag of the Yugoslav Partisans (Communists)
 
 
 
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If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra,
please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com
 
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Sibila Löhr, granddaughter of German general Alexander Löhr, commanding officer of "Operation Punishment", the Nazi bombing of Belgrade, Serbia on April 6, 1941, is now a Serbian Orthodox nun in Sabac, Serbia

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Sibila Löhr, whose grandfather was infamous German general
Alexander Löhr, now known as Mother Jovana in the Serbian Orthodox
monastery Soko in Sabac, Serbia. (1)
Photo by V. Mitic, Novosti March 21, 2017

"Today [April 6, 2017] we also mark the 76th anniversary of the Operation Retribution ["Operation Punishment"] or vicious German bombing campaign of Belgrade [Serbia] on April 6, 1941. In addition to mass casualties and severe destruction of the Kindom of Yugoslavia's capital, which was previously declared an open city and thus entirely demilitarized, the German Luftwaffe destroyed crucially important buildings like the Royal Palace or the National Library of Serbia that contained hundreds of thousands of rare books, maps, and medieval manuscripts, which were indispensable for Serbian history and culture. Since nothing is more creative than reality, some 76 years later we come to learn that Sibila Löhr, whose grandfather was infamous German general Alexander Löhr, the commanding officer during this crime against humanity who was eventually tried as war criminal and executed in 1947 in Belgrade, became a nun in the Serbian Orthodox monastery Soko near Sabac. Today mother Jovana, who fluently speaks Serbian, claims the two happiest moments of her life were taking monastic vows in the Serbian Orthodox Church and becoming a Serbian citizen. Mother Jovana persists in her prayerful and God-pleasing life as she ceaselessly prays for both her German and Serbian peoples, especially in this time of Lent."

By Louis de Funès
April 6, 2017

Sibila Löhr, whose grandfather was infamous German general
Alexander Löhr, now known as Mother Jovana in the Serbian Orthodox
monastery Soko in Sabac, Serbia. (2)
Photo by V. Mitic, Novosti March 21, 2017
 
 
 
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If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra,
please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com
 
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Ustasha symbols, “Kill the Serb” banners in center of Croatian Capital [Zagreb] / "InSerbia with Agencies" April 11, 2017

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InSerbia with Agencies
[RTS]
April 11, 2017

Ustasha symbols, “Kill the Serb” banners in center of Croatian Capital

Zagreb police needed almost 24 hours to determine whether on the Zagreb main Ban Jelacic Square on Monday, on the occasion of marking the day of establishment of NDH [Independent State of Croatia April 10, 1941], rallied a group of pro-fascist youth, who carried banners with Ustasha symbols and words “Kill the Serb” and nationalist flag with first white box on the chessboard (NDH flag).

Photo: "Antifascisticki vijesnik"

Although photographs published by portal “Antifascisticki vijesnik” clearly show everything, police in Zagreb claims they missed the group of people who rallied at the central city square, as well as banners and their behavior, and that they only now began the investigation.

Social networks are also full of photographs in which those rallied posed with Nazi salute, and people say that everything passed without police intervention.

At the same time, Croatian Defence Forces members (Croatian: Hrvatske obrambene snage, HOS) members in Split shouted the Ustasha cry “For home – ready!” in the presence of the representative of the most influential ruling HDZ party and delegate of the Minister of Defenders. Police also announced investigation.

“We are now reviewing everything, not only cameras. We are checking and taking everything to identify all persons involved”, said for H1 PR of Zagreb police, whose name is not mentioned.

“A group of Ustasha came to the Square, developed the Ustasha flag, showed the symbol of the criminal organization – the Ustasha – and showed inscription ‘Kill the Serb’. The police watched all this, recorded with cameras, all without reactions”, said one of the eyewitnesses, adding that the police have their cameras in the area, and that everyone else who stream live events on the Ban Jelacic Square are obliged to give the police the recordings for inspection.

Asked whether it is true that they have surveillance equipment at every corner at the Ban Jelacic Square, Zagreb police stated that “they missed a large group of people with disputed banners.”



https://inserbia.info/today/2017/04/ustasha-symbols-kill-the-serb-banners-in-center-of-croatian-capital/


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If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra, please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com

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REMEMBERING ARTHUR "JIBBY" JIBILIAN, HALYARD MISSION HERO, AS WINTER TURNS TO SPRING. / By Aleksandra Rebic April 2017

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Arthur "Jibby" Jibilian, O.S.S. and Aleksandra Rebic
"Forgotten 500" Halyard Mission Reunion / Michigan June 2009.
Photo: Rebic collection.

REMEMBERING ARTHUR "JIBBY" JIBILIAN, HALYARD MISSION HERO,
AS WINTER TURNS TO SPRING.
 
This year, 2017, the world will be marking the 72nd anniversary of the end of World War Two, the era of the "Greatest Generation". For me, one of the measures of a man who dies is how deeply the loss is felt in the hearts of those who knew him, and if they didn't know him personally, were affected by his work or by his existence on this earth in a positive way. WWII OSS radioman Arthur "Jibby" Jibilian was short in stature but a giant of a man in the hearts of all of us who were fortunate and privileged enough to know him. I was one of those people, and though it's been seven years since his death, I can still remember exactly what his voice sounded like, and he is as alive for me today as he was during all the years we kept in touch. In one of our last conversations over the telephone, it was obvious that he had been weakened by the leukemia that had struck him late in life. I made a simple request - "Arthur, please don't die." He liked that I called him "Arthur" though most of those who knew him personally or were familiar with his remarkable life story endearingly called him "Jibby". He chuckled warmly and said, "I'll try not to." I know he tried his best, but finally succumbed and died peacefully on March 21, 2010 in Ohio. Although it was inevitable, the news of his death was taken hard by many. We really thought we'd have him just a little while longer. Every year, as winter turns to spring, Arthur is in my thoughts.
 
Let me tell you just a little bit about him. You can find out much more by searching the internet. Please take the time to do so. It will be worth your time and attention.

Arthur "Jibby" Jibilian  was an essential participant in the great WWII Halyard Mission Rescue Operation of 1944 in Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia, both in Serbia and in Bosnia. He was directly responsible for saving the lives of over 500 American airmen stranded on that territory who were considered MIA and virtually left for dead for a good length of time before they were rescued.

Perhaps even more significantly, for Arthur Jibilian, coming home to America after the mission was successfully completed and every American and Allied airman was evacuated safely didn't mean leaving the past behind. Instead, he made it one of his life goals to vindicate the Serbian commander who made the multiple rescues of the stranded Americans and other Allied airmen possible. Arthur never forgot the legendary Serbian General Draza Mihailovich, whom he was fortunate enough to have met personally while in Serbia and Bosnia. After the war, and to his dying day, Arthur devoted his energy and his heart and soul to seeking justice for the General and righting the wrongs of the historical record with regards to Mihailovich, his Chetnik forces, and the Serbian people loyal to them. It was a huge task and an uphill battle. That did not deter him. Most impressively, Arthur Jibilian wanted nothing for himself and everything for Mihailovich and the Serbs who had protected and saved the lives of the Americans in the former Yugoslavia during World War II. Arthur's efforts were not in vain. The historical record is now a more truthful one, a more just one, because of him.

Fortunately, Arthur had the opportunity to return to Serbia and the areas that were so pivotal in his life story twice before he died: the first time in 2004 for the 6oth anniversary of the Halyard Mission and then the following year, in 2005, when the Legion of Merit Medal that had been posthumously awarded to General Mihailovich by the U.S. in 1948 and kept classified for decades afterwards, was finally brought "home" to Serbia.

Before Arthur, we had lost so many good, significant people. Major Richard Felman, U.S.A.F....Captain Nick Lalich, O.S.S....Captain George "Guv" Musulin, O.S.S....and the list of Halyard heroes that had passed into eternal memory went on. There were only a few left, and now one less.

When Arthur died on March 21, 2010 I felt the loss in my gut. His daughter Debi Jibilian had called and left a voice mail message to call her back. It was a Sunday afternoon, and I had been out running errands. Springtime had finally arrived. She didn't leave any details. Though we had spoken on the phone a number of times about her father and the Halyard Mission and current ongoing recognition efforts, and had met in June of 2009, this time it was immediately clear why she was calling. Still, as I dialed her phone number to return the call, I hoped I wrong. But I wasn't. I remember banging my fist on the kitchen counter in frustration. Then the tears came. To this day I continue to feel the loss in my heart. I selfishly wish Arthur were still here with us, because he was truly such a dear, good man. A good friend. I regret that he did not live to see the Mihailovich Rehabilitation judicial process begin in Belgrade, Serbia in September of 2010. I regret more that he did not live to see it finally come to positive fruition in May of 2015. I know he would have been ecstatic. I also know that he would have maintained all along that General Mihailovich did not need to be "rehabilitated".

Arthur Jibilian's remains were interred in Arlington National Cemetery on May 5, 2011.

I hope Arthur Jibilian is watching and reading and listening. I hope he knows how much he is missed. For the Serbs, he was truly the "Good American." We have not forgotten.


VECNAJA PAMJAT.
MEMORY ETERNAL.

Sincerely,
Aleksandra Rebic
April 2017


*****

If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra, please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com

*****

Dražini prvi pucali na Nemce / "Novosti" April 2, 2017

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Novosti
Ivan Miladinović
02. april 2017.

SUSRET SA ISTORIJOM

Dražini prvi pucali na Nemce

Zašto Srbija ne obeležava dan početka antifašističke borbe? Četnici 28. maja 1941. napali nemačku kolonu kod sela Ljuljaci. U Beloj Crkvi 7. jula počeo građanski i bratoubilački rat među Srbima.

Partizani i četnici sprovode zarobljene Nemce u Užicu 1941. godine
 
ZAKORAČILI smo u april. U mesec koji asocira na rat, okupaciju, kraj prve Jugoslavije, bombardovanje Beograda 1941, pa potom nekoliko puta 1944. godine... Buđenje tih podsećanja neumitno otvara i pitanja šta se zapravo dešavalo u Srbiji tog ratnog proleća i nastupajućeg ustaničkog leta.
 
Više od pola veka proslavljali smo 7. jul kao Dan ustanka, kao dan početka oružane borbe naroda u Srbiji protiv okupatora, kada su u Beloj Crkvi ubijena dvojica pripadnika žandarmerije kvislinške vlade Milana Nedića, Bogdan Lončar i Milenko Braković. Slavili smo ovaj dan i posle raspada SFR Jugoslavije sve do 2001. godine, kada je ukinut odlukom Vlade Srbije.
 
Ali istorija je uvek višedimenzionalna. I njen cilj je da omogući da se jedno vreme razume i objasni, a ne da presuđuje. Ona, istorija, u stvari je vrtlog čitavog niza činjenica koje se međusobno prožimaju a vrlo često suprotstavljaju. Zbog toga svaka istorijska pojava o kojoj se govori protkana je mnogim podacima koji su, neretko, i međusobno kontradiktorni. To podrazumeva da se ništa ne može posmatrati u relaciji crno i belo. Po svemu, tako je i sa događanjima u okupiranoj Srbiji te 1941. godine.
 
KADA su vetrovi vremena "oduvali" sa vlasti komuniste i drugu Jugoslaviju, pojavila su se prva mišljenja da događaj od 7. jula ne zaslužuje da bude označen kao ključni datum ustanka srpskog naroda, da on u stvari nije bio početak oružane borbe protiv nemačkog okupatora, već samo "početak bratoubilačkog, građanskog rata među Srbima", nagoveštaj da će se "glavna borba voditi... između Srba i Srba!" Tim pre što smo na istorijskoj sceni imali dva antiokupatorska pokreta - partizanski I četnički.
 
Mnogo je dokumenata, izlišno je da ih ovom prilikom citiramo, koji dokazuju da u Beloj Crkvi, 7. jula 1941. nisu prvi put planule puške u Srbiji, posle neslavne kapitulacije Jugoslovenske kraljevske vojske.
 
Ova konstatacija otvara još jedno pitanje: zašto Srbija nema, od odluke Vlade 2001, svoj dan početka antifašističke borbe. Pogotovo ako je od te godine do danas, proklamovan jasan cilj ulaska u evropsku zajednicu, koja se, inače, temelji na antifašizmu.
 
Ovo je prilika da pobrojimo sve ozbiljnije sukobe koji su na teritoriji Srbije vođeni protiv nemačkih vojnih formacija, ne favorizujući nijedan od njih kao dan ustanka.
 
NEPOSREDNO po potpisivanju bezuslovne kapitulacije Kraljevine Jugoslavije, prvi hici na okupatora ispaljeni su 21. aprila 1941. u selu Donji Dobrić u Pocerini. Odeljenje jurišnog odreda Jugoslovenske vojske napalo je nemačku formaciju i ubilo jednog potporučnika, a drugog potporučnika i narednika ranilo.
 
Dragoljub Draža Mihailović
 
Grupa vojnika koja nije htela da se preda oko 1. maja zametnula je kavgu sa jačim nemačkim odeljenjem kod Požege. Borba je bila kratka i žestoka. Brojno jači i bolje naoružani Nemci su zarobili desetoricu vojnika i odmah ih streljali na licu mesta...

I na planini Javor, najpre polovinom maja, a potom 16. juna 1941. vođene su bitke između nemačkih poternih odeljenja i srpskih vojnika, koji se nisu vraćali kućama posle kapitulacije kako bi izbegli zarobljeništvo.

Uz ostale slučajeve otpora, neophodno je spomenuti da su se civili, seljaci, iz sela Brčnar na Kopaoniku, 5. jula 1941. godine, sa oružjem u ruci, suprotstavili albanskim žandarmima i pripadnicima jedne nemačke jedinice koja je bila stacionirana u Kosovskoj Mitrovici.

Značajno je spomenuti i da su, dva dana pre odluke Centralnog komiteta Komunističke partije Jugoslavije o podizanju opštenarodnog ustanka, a pet dana pre događaja u Beloj Crkvi, 2. jula 1941. prvi nemački vojnici pali u zarobljeništvo srpskih ustanika. U Podgorini, u šumi Jautini zarobljeno je četrnaest Nemaca. "Svučeni do u gaće i košulje - poslati su u Valjevo" - zabeležio je Vasa Kazimirović. Ovu akciju je izvela oružana grupa partizana iz Podgorine koji su pripadali Valjevskom partizanskom odredu.

SVEDOCI smo da je kod nas poslednjih dvadesetak godina, a u svetu i mnogo ranije, objavljen popriličan broj tekstova i publikacija u kojima se dokazuje da je Dragoljub Draža Mihailović prvi koji je u Srbiji, na celom jugoslovenskom prostoru, i čak u Evropi, pobo "antifašistički barjak gerile". Tvrdi se da je prvi počeo da stvara vojnu organizaciju i prvi počeo sa oružanim napadima na okupatorsku vojnu silu.

U tim dokazima dominiraju tri datuma - 15. april, 11. i 28. maj 1941. godine. Mihailović je 15. aprila doneo odluku da ne položi oružje i "proglasi jugoslovenske planine za svoja uporišta". Na dan 11. maja počeo je da "sprovodi u delo tu odluku", a 28. maja 1941. otpočeo je i oružanu borbu protiv vojne sile nemačkog okupatora u Srbiji...


Jelički četnički odred na zaplenjenom tenku
 


Profesor Radoje L. Knežević, jedan od učesnika u puču 27. marta, a potom ministar dvora, u više navrata je pisao kako su 28. maja 1941. pripadnici Dražine, tad još malobrojne vojske, napali nemačku motorizovanu kolonu kod Ljuljaka, na putu Kragujevac - Gornji Milanovac.

Dragoslav Stranjaković, predratni profesor istorije na Beogradskom univerzitetu, poratni stradalnik kao ravnogorac i nastavnik na Bogosloviji, uspeo je da u Parizu objavi knjigu "Titov pokret i režim u Jugoslaviji 1941-46.", pod pseudonimom Branko Lazić. Četnički prepad na Nemce kod sela Ljuljak za njega je ključni dokaz da je Draža Mihailović prvi započeo oružane sukobe sa Nemcima, a ne pripadnici Titovog pokreta.

"Polazeći od činjenica, za napad na nemačku motorizovanu kolonu kod Ljuljaka na dan 28. maja 1941. može se reći sasvim pouzdano samo to - da je do njega uistinu došlo. Nedeljama i nedeljama posle toga, ostaci spaljenih kamiona mogli su se videti u jarku kraj puta... Ali takođe prema činjenicama, to nije bio, uopšte uzev, prvi napad na nemačku okupatorsku vojnu silu posle kapitulacije Jugoslovenske kraljevske vojske u aprilu 1941." - napisao je o ovom ratnom događaju Vasa Kazimirović.

Čačanski partizani sa zarobljenim tenkom
 
VALjA, međutim, na kraju spomenuti da je u maju 1941. postojala još jedna gerilska organizacija u Srbiji, na čijem se čelu nalazio Kosta Milovanović Pećanac, vrhovni starešina takozvanih starih četnika.

"Svoj rad na organizovanju četničkih odreda za borbu protiv okupatora", dokazuje se, "on je počeo odmah po ulasku Nemaca u Jugoslaviju". Što je on ubrzo pokleknuo, o čemu će tek biti govora u poglavlju o građanskom ratu među Srbima, što se stavio na raspolaganje nemačkom okupatoru i predsedniku od njega naimenovane vlade, Milanu Nediću, drugo je pitanje, koje ne može, međutim, potrti navedeno.

Pećanac se znatno pre Draže obreo "u šumi". O postojanju organizacije Koste Milovanovića Pećanca i akcijama četnika pod njegovom komandom, govore i izveštaji 60. nemačke pešadijske divizije iz prve polovine maja 1941. godine. U jednom od tih izveštaja kaže se da su se "mestimično okupili srpski politički fanatici pod imenom četnika".

Međutim, Kosta Pećanac će ubrzo pokleknuti i staviti se na raspolaganje nemačkoj vlasti i kvislinškoj vladi Milana Nedića.

PRVI PREGOVORI SA OKUPATOROM

Prvi pregovarački kontakt ustanika i nemačke okupacione vojske bio je 4. oktobra 1941. Kapetan Dragoslav Račić, komandant Cerskog četničkog odreda, poslao je pismo komandiru 10. čete 699. nemačkog pešadijskog puka u Šapcu. Račić je poručio da je spreman da pusti iz "zarobljeništva 40 nemačkih vojnika, ali pod uslovima: da Nemci prestanu sa ubijanjem, zlostavljanjem i odvođenjem mirnih, nenaoružanih Srba i oduzimanjem njihove imovine; da Nemci povuku svoje trupe u Šabac I obustave bombardovanje sela...

Ukoliko vaši vojnici ne prestanu s mučenjem i zlostavljanjem srpskog naroda, mi ćemo nastaviti borbu s najvećom žestinom do poslednjeg vojnika..."

Nemački kapetan Šulc je odgovorio svojim uslovima za prekid vatre: neodložno izručenje svih zarobljenih Nemaca; predaja celokupnog oružja i municije od strane četnika. Ukoliko bi ovo bilo prihvaćeno, oficirima i ljudstvu vojno-četničkih odreda bilo bi zagarantovano "puno oslobođenje od kazne".

Na ove uslove kapetan Račić nije pristao, i povukao se iz Mačve, u okolinu Valjeva.



http://www.novosti.rs/vesti/naslovna/reportaze/aktuelno.293.html:658239-Drazini-prvi-pucali-na-Nemce


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If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra, please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com

*****

ПОЛОЖЕНИ ВИЈЕНЦИ НА СПОМЕН-ПЛОЧИ ДРАЖИ МИХАИЛОВИЋУ [на мјесту гдје је 20. априла 1941. године одбио да призна капитулацију тадашње војске] / "СРНА" April 20, 2017

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СРНА
ПЕТРОВО, 20. АПРИЛА 2017


Полагање вијенаца на спомен-плочу Дражи Михаиловићу
у Петрову 20. April 2017. / Фото: СРНА
 
ПЕТРОВО, 20. АПРИЛА /СРНА/ - Представници удружења "Ствараоци Републике Српске"и Равногорског покрета положили су данас у Петрову вијенац на спомен-плочу ђенералу Дражи Михаиловићу, подигнуту на мјесту гдје је 20. априла 1941. године одбио да призна капитулацију тадашње војске.
 
Представник "Ствараоци Републике Српске"Миладин Недић рекао је новинарима да је на данашњи дан Михаиловић донио одлуку да дигне устанак у поробљеној Европи и брани човјечанство од фашизма.
 
Недић подсјећа да је Михаиловић, након што је сазнао за одлуку тадашње Владе Краљевине Југославије да потпише капитулацију, одржао говор својој јединици наводећи да не признаје капитулацију и да почиње са герилском борбом против окупатора.
 
Историчар из Београда Радован Калабић каже да је Лужањак, висораван на Озрену, прво мјесто у Европи на коме је пружен отпор нацистичкој Њемачкој.
 
Он је навео да је Михаиловић на том мјесту изговорио чувену реченицу да српски језик не познаје ријеч капитулација.
 
"Тако је и почео први устанак српског народа против Хитлера", рекао је Калабић.
 
Он сматра да су у званичној историји прећутана многа поглавља.
 
"Ми, нажалост, тек из немачких извора сазнајемо да је први оружани сукоб био у добојском селу Шеварлије, када су Немци објавили смртовницу свог тенкисте који је погинуо у борби са брзим одредом на чијем челу је био Дража Михаиловић", рекао је Калабић.
 
Он је подсјетио да је Осми бомбардерски пук Краљевине Југославије први и једини у то вријеме у Европи бомбардовао територију нацистичке Њемачке, као чин одмазде за бомбардовање Београда, узлетевши са аеродрома Ровине код Бањалуке.
 
Спомен-плоча ђенералу Дражи Михаиловићу, односно Равногорском покрету, у знак сјећања на 20. април 1941. године постављена је на Лужањку, висоравни на Озрену, 23. априла 2005. године, а улица у Петрову која води до спомен-плоче носи име ђенерала Драже.
 
 
 
 
 
*****
 
If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra, please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com
 
*****
 

У недјељу [23. априла 2017.] комеморација и у Јасеновцу / "Јадовно 1941." [СРНА] April 21, 2017

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Foto: Wikigogo / Teo Gasparovic

Јадовно 1941.
[СРНА]
April 21, 2017

У недјељу [23. априла 2017.] комеморација и у Јасеновцу

У Спомен-подручју Јасеновац у недјељу, 23. априла, биће одржана комеморација као знак сјећања на жртве усташког концентрационог логора, као и преживјеле заточенике.

Пригодни програм уз полагање вијенаца започеће у 11.00 часова у Спомен-подручју Јасеновац, испред споменика „Цвијет“, најављено је из Спомен-подручја Јасеновац.

Окупљање се очекује до 10.15 часова испред зграде Меморијалног музеја, а колона сјећања према споменику „Цвијет“ кренуће у 10.30 часова.

Комеморација у Јасеновцу одржава се под покровитељством Хрватског сабора.

Дан сјећања на жртве усташког злочина-геноцида у концентрационом логору Јасеновац и његовом највећем стратишту Доња Градина биће обиљежен у Спомен-подручју Доња Градина у недјељу, 23. априла.

Тај комеморативни скуп организују владе Републике Српске и Србије.

Систем концентрационих логора Јасеновац представља највеће стратиште у Другом свјетском рату на територији некадашње Југославије јер је у њему страдало 700.000 жртава усташког злочина.

Међу убијеним је 500.000 Срба, 40.000 Рома, 33.000 Јевреја, 127.000 антифашиста. У Јасеновцу је страдало и 20.000 дјеце.

Логор Доња Градина формиран је 1942. године у систему усташког логора Јасеновац, а био је активан све до завршетка Другог свјетског рата 1945. године и слома Независне Државе Хрватске.

Доња Градина је била једно од највећих стратишта јасеновачког логора гдје су убијани махом Срби, Јевреји и Роми.


http://jadovno.com/u-nedjelju-komemoracija-i-u-jasenovcu/#.WPpnAOmGP4g


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If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra, please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com

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"DAYS OF JASENOVAC" - 16th Annual Commemorative Ceremonies April 22-23, 2017 / Sponsored by the Jasenovac Research Institute

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You are cordially invited to the 16th Annual
 Days of Jasenovac Commemorative Ceremonies
on Saturday, April 22, 2017 and Sunday, April
23, 2017.
 
Sponsored by the Jasenovac Research Institute
 
Saturday, April 22, 2017- A special ceremony
at the Jasenovac Monument at the Holocaust Memorial Park, Brooklyn, from 3 to 4 PM.
(Free bus transportation from St. Sava's Serbian Orthodox Cathedral 16 West 26th Street, NY, NY, 10010. Please arrive from 1:30 to 2:00. Bus departs at 2 for Brooklyn and returns to Manhattan by 5:00 PM.)
 
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Sunday, April 23, 2017- 16th Annual
Conference and Benefit Dinner at the
Hotel Pennsylvania
401 7th Ave
New York, NY 10001
 
Stepinac, Revisionism and Denial:
The Threat of Neo-Fascism in Croatia

 4 to 7 PM
 
Keynote Speakers:
 
Dr. Dario Vidojkovic, Historian, University of Regensburg, Germany
 
Jovan Pejin, Historian, Former Director of the Historical Archives of Serbia and author of a book on Stepinac
 
Eva Deutsch Costabel, Holocaust Survivor
 
and other speakers
 
Tickets for Sunday's Conference and Dinner: $100
 
Doors open for the conference and dinner
at 3 PM, the buffet dinner is from 4 to 6,
and the conference runs from 4:30 to 7:00.
 
For more information please call 917-254-5164.
 
Come join us as we honor and remember our
martyrs and loved ones
and rededicate ourselves to the struggle for truth and justice for the victims of Ustashe and Nazi genocide.
 
 
 
 
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If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra,
please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com
 
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VIDEO / DOCUMENTARY FILM: "I WAS JUST A CHILD" / [The Genocide in the Independent State of Croatia] / Serbian language with English Subtitles

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I WAS JUST A CHILD, DOCUMENTARY FILM
 
Posted on You Tube by: "branko Lazic"
Published on Apr 19, 2016
 
During the World War II in bereaved Europe there were hundreds of camps for liquidation of undesirable nations.
But only in the quislingian Independent State of Croatia were founded camps for children of Serbs, Gypsies and Jews.
 
Camps: Sisak, Jastrebarsko, Gornja Rijeka...
Through these camps have passed 20 000 children
Only few survived
Good and brave people helped them
 
Documentary film “I was just a child” is a story about the man who rescued 30 children from certain death from the concentration camp Gornja Rijeka during World War II, risking his own life.
 
In 1942, 14 year old Miloš Stanišljević was on his way to find his brothers, who have been taken to a concentration camp. He has not found his brothers but he has succeeded to rescue other children, sentenced to death.
 
Some of those children are still alive. And they remember…
Most of us remember our childhood friends of our childhood games.
For those camp-children a game was an escape from death.
 
Screenplay and directed by
Branko Lazić
 
Executive Producer
Aleksandar Šević
Producer
Radovan Bojat
Cameraman
Vladimir Todić
Sound
Žarko Kalaba
Light
Novo Bukša
Cover Designer
Ljubiša Bajić
Translation
Dunja Krčo
Music
LAB
Audio Visual Editor
Siniša Žigić
 
Production
Radio-Television of Republic of Srpska
2010
Duration: 24 minutes
 
 




https://youtu.be/gC3JypvxXCI


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If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra, please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com

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"CHETNIK DAY" PROCLAIMED IN CHICAGO, IL April 1943 by Mayor Edward J. Kelly

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WHEREAS, The United Nations, comprising the entire democratic world, are now locked in a death struggle with those who would impose the yoke of slavery upon all who oppose their will of force; and
 
WHEREAS, every member nation, through sanctioning the Four Freedoms is fighting for the preservation of these ideals which deserve every support of all freedom-loving peoples fortunate enough to have avoided the agonies of war within their fight for freedom; and
 
WHEREAS, in all countries where men may today enjoy the benefits of freedom, the valor of General Draza Mihailovich and his legions of Chetniks is symbolic of this great universal fight for freedom; and
 
WHEREAS, because there are assembled this evening citizens of the United States, official representatives of the United Nations, and of the Jugoslav organization of Cook County, it is fitting and proper that the valiant deeds of the Chetniks be graphically documented and preserved for posterity.
 
 
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Edward J. Kelly, Mayor of the City of Chicago, do hereby designate, in recognition of this historic organization, April 1, 1943, as CHETNIK DAY in Chicago; and I do urge all citizens to salute the glorious deeds of these brave patriots and allies.
 
 
Dated at Chicago this thirtieth day of March, A.D., 1943.



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JASENOVAC VICTIMS HONORED AT FORMER DEATH CAMP SITE / "B92" [BETA] April 24, 2017

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B92
BETA
April 24, 2017

Jasenovac victims honored at former death camp site

Serbian PM Aleksandar Vucic on Sunday [April 23, 2017] attended a commemoration for the Jasenovac victims, held at the site of one of the death camp's largest killing grounds.

Photo: Tanjug

The camp in Donja Gradina - now a town in the Serb Republic (RS), in Bosnia-Herzegovina, near the border with Croatia - was formed in 1942 as part of the Jasenovac complex of concentration camps, operated by the Ustasha regime of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH).

By the end of the Second World War and the disintegration of this Nazi-allied entity, hundreds of thousands of Serbs, Jews, Roma and anti-fascists were slaughtered there.

The commemoration in Donja Gradina on Sunday, organized by the governments of Serbia and the RS, was also attended by top officials of the Serb entity including President Milorad Dodik, representatives of the Serbian government, Serbian Orthodox Patriarch Irinej, Presidency of Bosnia-Herzegovina Chairman Mladen Ivanic, representatives of the Serbian Army, Jewish and Roma communities in Bosnia, descendants of the victims of Jasenovac, many citizens, and representatives of the international community in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The Serbian government said that Vucic addressed the ceremony marking Day of Remembrance of the genocide in Jasenovac, and said on this occasion that "without the knowledge of the past it will be hard to build a better future for our children."

"It is our obligation to be here for the descendants of Jasenovac victims," he said, and added: "We have to be here so that the events of seven decades ago never get repeated, but also to send a message that we will never forget what happened to us and that we strongly oppose attempts of repeating that."

"Here, in one of the worst places in then occupied Europe, I am grateful to President of the RS Milorad Dodik that Serbia and the RS are together marking the events of the past," the Serbian president-elect said.

Photo: Tanjug
 
Vucic also criticized the attempts to restore the Ustasha ideology and the revision of history and attempts to rehabilitate Alojzije Stepinac and thus remove responsibility for the crimes committed against the people and clergy of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the Serbian government said.
 
According to Beta, he said that there were still people in Croatia "who wish there were no Serbs there" or their cultural, religious and other symbols, adding that Serbia wanted and had to work with "a normal Croatia," where people will not be judged by whether they are different.
 
Vucic repeated that Serbia would "never let anyone to have another Bljesak or Oluja" - referring to Croatian military operations against ethnic Serb areas of the country in the mid-1990s - and adding that "staunch opposition must meet anyone who wants to redraw borders in the Balkans, who wants a 'Greater Albania' and some other states, not asking the rest of us, especially not the Serbs whose territory they want to seize."
 
Milorad Dodik also spoke to say that the Serb entity "has no intentions of destabilizing the region, that it was committed to lasting peace, but that it wanted Jasenovac to be marked as a site of genocide against the Serb people, not as a site of victims of war."
 
Dodik said that the RS was created "so that Serbs there could be free, and refused to shake hands with US Ambassador to Bosnia-Herzegovina Maureen Cormack, whom he has declared a persona non grata in the RS, "blaming her for his being blacklisted in the US," according to Beta.
 
 
 
 
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THIS WAS GENERAL DRAZA MIHAILOVICH / By Aleksandra Rebic April 2017

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THIS WAS GENERAL DRAZA MIHAILOVICH

There is no grave site. There is no marker for his remains. It is as if they wanted to remove him not just from the earth but from the history of his country and the consciousness of his people. But they failed. Nowhere is this more evident than in those hills of Serbia they call Ravna Gora. And it is in those Ravna Gora hills where the true soul and spirit of Serbia can still be found.

July 17th is an important day for those who knew who he was and what he did. His name may or may not be familiar to you, but he may have been as important a figure in history as those whose names are imprinted in the national consciousness. He was Yugoslavia's General Draza Mihailovich, a Serb, whose life was taken from him on July 17, 1946. He was only 53 years old. He didn't die during the war, killed in battle. Instead, his life would end in the time of peace. He was a true hero, and he may have been one of the last of his kind in a part of the world that so desperately needs people like him today. As a child growing up very far away from where he made his mark, I came to know who he was in a very personal way.

Draza Mihailovich was born at the end of April 1893 in the small town of Ivanjica in the western part of the Kingdom of Serbia. He became an orphan as a young child, losing both his mother and father by the time he was only seven years old and would be raised in Belgrade by close relatives. Through his uncles Draza developed an early love for the military and it would soon become his life. He excelled at the Military Academy and was groomed to become an officer. His fate would be sealed by virtue of the timing of his birth. His destiny was to become a participant in war after war, beginning with the First and Second Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913, then WWI (1914-1918), and finally WWII (1941-1945) during which he attained the rank of "General" and his name and cause became known all over the world. To this day he remains among the most decorated military officers in history. General Mihailovich was the kind of officer any man would be proud to serve under.

He was a true believer in the ideals of freedom and democracy and wanted those ideals to be the hallmark of his beloved Serbia. He was not a political man, and this would prove to be both his great virtue and his undoing. He knew and understood his people and was loyal to both them and to the democratic Western Allies in whom he believed. When the Nazis attacked and occupied Yugoslavia in April of 1941 and her government and army surrendered, making Yugoslavia yet another in the long line of Hitler's successful conquests in Europe, Draza Mihailovich opted not to surrender, but to resist. With him he took less than 100 men into the hills of Ravna Gora, Serbia in early May of 1941 and began a successful guerrilla resistance that would be the first of its kind in all of Nazi-occupied Europe in WWII.

Mihailovich made his position clear to the Germans. When the Germans attempted an armistice, he was unequivocal:"As long as a single enemy soldier remains on our soil, we shall continue to fight...Our fighting spirit is based on the traditions of a love for liberty and our unflinching faith in the victory of our Allies."

The Germans did not capitulate or evacuate. Mihailovich was good to his word. Severe and cruel Nazi reprisals began against the innocent Serbian civilian population in order to stop the resistance. The Nazi order issued in September of 1941 was unequivocal: For every one German soldier killed, 100 Serbian civilians were to pay with their lives. For every one German wounded, 50 Serbian civilians would pay the ultimate price. Because he was a compassionate man who loved his people, Mihailovich was compelled to alter his means of fighting the enemy in order to spare the lives of the innocents. He and his fighters would prove very adept at the sabotage campaigns that were crippling to the Nazi war machine.

Mihailovich's resistance to the Nazi forces that had attacked and occupied his homeland would have far-reaching implications for the outcome of the entire war. The Allies, bigger and stronger than he and his guerrilla fighters would come to owe much of the success of the Allied campaign against Hitler to Draza Mihailovich and his Chetniks.

The most tangible legacy of the resistance initiated in Serbia by General Mihailovich and his Chetniks in May of 1941 against Hitler's war machine was this: Hitler would be forced to keep several of his divisions in Yugoslavia just to fight the guerrilla resistance that had by now grown in number and foiled his plans for an easy conquest of Serbia. The ultimate consequence of this would prove fatal for the German Army.

Because Hitler was forced to keep several of his divisions in Serbia, his plan for the invasion of Moscow (Operation Barbarossa) was delayed for several weeks in the spring of 1941. The delay proved to be critical. By the time the German forces were within reach of Moscow, the brutal Russian winter had set in, and that was a force the Nazis could not overcome. Had the German forces not been delayed by the Mihailovich resistance in Yugoslavia, Moscow may well have fallen and the course of history would have been much different. Do the historians highlight or even talk about this very significant aspect of WWII? No, not yet, and that is what needs to change.

As pivotal as this delay caused by the resistance was, in the eyes of those whose lives General Mihailovich and his Chetniks affected directly, a feat was later accomplished that was even more significant.

During the course of the Allied bombing campaigns of the Ploesti oil fields in Romania, Hitler's primary supply of oil in the summer of 1944, hundreds of Allied airmen were shot down over Yugoslavia by the Germans. Over 700 of these airmen, more than 500 of them Americans, would end up on Serbian territory, but behind enemy lines, because it was occupied by the Germans. These Allied airmen would be rescued and protected and nursed back to health by the Serbs loyal to Mihailovich who, at great risk to themselves, would shelter, feed, and protect these men who were foreigners on their soil. Ultimately, these airmen, to the very last one, would be returned safely to their homes and their families as a result of a series of evacuations from August through December of 1944 now known as "The Halyard Mission"that would become the greatest rescue of American lives from behind enemy lines in the history of warfare. It was a grand rescue under extreme duress for they were surrounded by the occupying Nazi forces. 500 American young men would return home to become fathers and husbands and grandfathers who would tell their children and grandchildren the story of how their lives had been saved so many thousands of miles away by a man named Draza Mihailovich. Today, there are many Americans among us, both young and old, who owe their lives to this man.

The most significant aspect of these rescues was that General Mihailovich evacuated these hundreds of Allied airmen after the Allies had betrayed and abandoned him. For me, that will always be the measure of this man who personified honor in the flesh.

General Mihailovich would turn out to be a very tragic hero. Due to political game-playing, a severe lack of foresight, and devastating betrayal, Mihailovich would be abandoned by the Allies. The communist enemy, the Yugoslav Partisans with Marshal Tito as their leader, against whom Mihailovich and his Chetniks had fought as hard as they had fought against the Nazis, would prevail. In one of the worst cases of judicial travesty and miscarriages of justice, Mihailovich, after being captured by the Yugoslav communists, was tried by a kangaroo court in Belgrade on fabricated charges of collaboration with the enemy, declared "guilty" on July 15th, sentenced to death with no appeal, and executed by the communists on July 17, 1946. Though they valiantly insisted on being present at the trial and being allowed to give their testimonies as witnesses, not a single Allied airman who had been saved by General Mihailovich was allowed in that courtroom. I can only imagine the pain in their hearts when they heard the news that their living, breathing hero had become a martyr.

Two years after General Mihailovich's death, U.S. President Harry Truman, under the advisement of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, posthumously awarded Mihailovich the Legion of Merit in the rank of Commander-in-Chief, the highest combat award America can bestow upon a foreign national:

''General Dragoljub Mihailovich distinguished himself in an outstanding manner as Commander-in-Chief of the Yugoslavian Army Forces and later as Minister of War by organizing and leading important resistance forces against the enemy which occupied Yugoslavia, from December 1941 to December 1944. Through the undaunted efforts of his troops, many United States airmen were rescued and returned safely to friendly control. General Mihailovich and his forces, although lacking adequate supplies, and fighting under extreme hardships, contributed materially to the Allied cause, and were instrumental in obtaining a final Allied victory."


March 29, 1948. Harry S. Truman

Unfortunately, this award would be instantly classified and remained so for 20 years. Why, you ask? Imagine how uncomfortable it would be to explain why your country was awarding a medal of such distinction to a man they had abandoned in war?
 
I learned about this man, Mihailovich, as a child growing up in my home in Chicagoland, far, far away from Serbia. I cannot remember a time in my life that I did not know of him. I became familiar with his kind, warm face and the truly glorious things he did under impossible conditions through my father, Rade Rebic. It would be through my own steps up the steep, snowy paths of the legendary Ravna Gora hills in Serbia in February of 1995, the same hills in which he had first begun his great resistance, that I would come to appreciate the honorable things that General Mihailovich did first hand. No, there is no grave site yet in Serbia, but there in those hills his spirit is everywhere, and his legacy has prevailed over death.

It is wonderful to know that in this modern age so many of us, both young and old, are committed to doing what we can to honor this legacy and keep it vibrant and alive. All Americans and freedom loving people need to come to know who this man was as well as the nature of his cause.

General Mihailovich did huge things much of the world doesn't even know about. He was a good man, a virtuous and honorable military officer, and a patriot who was willing to sacrifice himself for his people, his homeland, and the noble ideals he believed in. He was a decent human being - one of the few truly good guys in the badness that is war.

Happy Birthday General Mihailovich. Your life and your work were not in vain. Even if one day it is found, no gravesite can hold you, for your spirit and your legacy are eternal.


Aleksandra Rebic
April 27, 2017
Chicago, U.S.A.

 
 
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If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra,
please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com
 
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